Bottle crate



Dec. 16, 1941. HMAHLER' ,2,266,225

BOTTLE CRAT E Filed Feb. 1B, 193s 2 Sheets-swhet 1 Dec. 16, 1941. F. H. MAHLER BOTTLE CRATE Filed Feb. 18, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z'nvewior 1 im@ AZZ@ ggf Vslats 'I and 8, and 8 and S.

Patented Dec. 16, 1941 f omi-'enfermas.FAT-ENT orrlce e f f i' ,aceazfat no'r'rLE CRATE L.Fred Hg Mahler, St- Paul, Minn., .assigner-@John ,o d Manufacturing Company; 111.9-, .Censim-H e enges rc1. ane-51.91)

, It is an object of this invention to provide a bottle lcrate havingwalls constructed from a novel combination of wood'and metal slats im.- parting unusuai strength and durability while reducing the cost and weight of the structure.

Another object is to socombine woodjslats with metal slats in the walls of a cram .as to permit expansion and contraction of the 'wood members while retaining the metal members un.- der lateral compression between wood members and thereby deaden or inutile the noise which is ordinarily produced in the use of ailfmetal struc.- tures of this kind.

A further object is to providein a crate of the class described, sheet metairfwall members which are rendered adequately stiff .by a Ynovel arrangement of marginal flanges.

' Other objects will appear and'be more fully pointed out in the followingspecification and claims.

Referring :to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view'of my improved crate;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken .onith'e line 2,12 of Fig'. g1; l

Fig. 3 is a sectiontaken ,on theiline 3.7-3 .of

Fig. 1;

Figs. 4, 5 and dare' fragmentary horizontal sections taken on the lines dese, 5,7.- 5 'and G.-..6 of Fig.-2;

Fig. '7 is anenlarged vertical sectiontaken on the line V'l'...-'I of Fig. `1, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective lview of :oneoi the cor.- `ner joints betweenwood slats.

` My Vimproved crate has verticalside andlend walls connected together vat fthe cornersas hereyinafter.u described. Each of :the sidewalls is comi. posed of three wood slatsindicated by the nu.- merals 1, 8 and 9 respectively and metal slats I 0 and II interposed respectively between the Each of the end walls is composed of horizontally extending metal slats I2 conned between wood slats I3 and I4 and a third wood slat I5 disposed above the slat I3 and formed with a handle opening I6.

The several metal slats I9, II and I2 are'similarly formed from sheet metal and each has a plane vertical main panel extending approximately in the vertical plane of the outer surface of the wood slats of the same wall and integral anges I'I extending `alongr the upper and lower edges of the main panel and projecting inwardly therefrom. These flanges I'I project obliquely toward Lthe adjoining wood slats and gral anges I8 extending outwardly fromtheir inner edges to abut against the Wood slats re-v spectively An angle bar 1,9 extends y.vertically .at each .core ner of the crate and-is preferably .formed with inwardly bent' ,flanges :2.0 engaging the several slats of the adjoining walls vertical grooves formedthe-slats. es :best Yshot/.r1 in Fiss 4; to .8 inclusive, the-several wood slats have .mtered end portions 2J which interlock, one with al1- other, at each cerner and are perforated vert-if cally toreceive a vertical tie' rod`22 at each corner. The metal slats 'H1 and II have perforaztions in their -flangesli and I3 near each .corner to receive the reds 22j and the 'anges of the metal' slats I2 are similarly perforated to receive the rods 22. -Asbest shown in Fig. 7, the end portions ef the yflangesii .and IB .of the' Slate l2; .overlap the correspondingy flanges oi the slats .I I. yTo 'retain the several danses ,It .and I8 of the metal slats under compression; Yrivets :23 fastenvthe .angle bars Iii to the Wood slathorf dering the upper and lower edges of the crate.

A bottom-for the crate.; is formed by` a multiplicity lof spaced; parallel rodsY lrhaving Yi'their ends secured vin :the end .walls of the crate. These rods are braced and connected together by a transversely .extending channel `-bar25. VA suitable partition' structi-i're,florseparating the bottlesin the crate ,comprises :an uppergrid con.- sisting .of a multipiicityof crossed rods 26 and ZI and a lower grid structure comprising Vcrossed rodsi and 29. iTheseyup'per andiower grid structures are connected together by'posts which are perforated toreceive the several rods 26, 21, V23 and!!! at their several intersections.

improvedcrate is particularly, although` not .eXclusiveiy, adapted for use in transporting' .milkv bottles.. Srates of Vthis class are 4so fre;-

quently washedlthat the wooden members ab.-V n

heavier while in use, due to the absorption'of'- moistureand my improved crate minimizes this disadvantage by reducing the amount of wood embodied in the crate by about 40%. As my metal slats Vare otherwise considerably lighter than wood slats of equal strength, my crate is considerably lighter than the ordinary reinforced i wood crates. All-metal crates are objectionable because of the noise and rattlingincident to their use, but this objection does not apply to my invention because I maintain the metal slats under compression between the wooden slats so Y that vibration and free movement of the metal Ordinarily, wood cratesV parts is prevented. The longitudinal anges I1 and I8 on the metal slats are suiciently resilient to maintain the contact with the wood members and to compensate for the expansion and contraction of such members at all times. It will also be evident that the anges along the edges of the metal slats are formed by a double thickness of metal so that these flanges greatly strengthen the crate and impart ample longitudinal rigidity to each slat. This makes it practical to construct the metal slats from relatively light gauge sheet metal and substantially reduces the cost of the crate.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is;

1. A bottle crate comprising, a plurality of walls selected walls being formed from alternate wooden and metal slats and means' securing theV slats of said walls together at the corners of the crate, each of said metal slats being formed with a main panel and flanges extending along the longitudinal edges of said panel in engagement with the edges of the woodenslats.

2. A bottle crate comprising, a plurality of walls each formed from alternate wooden and metal slats secured together at the corners of the crate and each of said metal slats being vformed with a main panel extending in a common plane with the outer faces of the adjacent wooden slats and integral flanges extending along the longitudinal edges of said panel and resiliently engaging the adjacent wooden slats.

3. A bottle crate having in combination a plurality of walls each formedv from alternate wooden and metal slats, the several metal slats being channel shaped in vertical cross section and having flanges along their edges projecting obliquely into engagement with the adjacent wooden slats, said flanges being suilicientlyresilient to maintain contact with the Wooden slats during the expansion and contraction :of said slats. Y

4. A bottle crate comprising walls having ltop and bottom wooden slats and intermediate sheet metal slats coniined between pairs of said Wooden 'f slats, means for securing the slats ofeach wall together at the corners of the crate and flanges extending along the longitudinal edges of said metal slats in Vresilient engagement with the edges of the adjacent wooden slats, the flanges of each slat being arranged to be sprungtoward each other upon the swelling of the abutting wooden slats. v

5. A bottle crate having side and end walls joined together at the corners of the crate, each of said walls having top and bottom wood slats and intermediate slats formedfrom sheet metal, the several metal slats being conlined between wood slats, each of said metal slats being'formed with resilient flanges extending along its upper and lower edges in engagement with the edges of the adjacent Wood slats and each of said anges comprising a double fold of sheet metal.

6. A bottle crate having plane side and end Walls joined together at the corners of the crate, each of said walls having top and bottom wooden slats and intermediate slats formed from sheet metal and conned between the adjacent wooden slats, each of said metal slats comprising a main, vertical panel extending substantially in the plane of the outer surface of the wooden slats of the same wall and flanges extending along the longitudinal edges of said main panel in engagement with the edges of the adjacent wooden slats, each of said flanges comprising a double fold of sheet metal.

7. A bottle crate having ln combination a plurality of walls, selected walls being formed of alternate wooden and metal slats, means for securing the slats of each Wall together at the corners of the crate and resilient anges extending along the longitudinal edges of a metal slat in engagement with the edges of adjacent wooden slats whereby the metal slat is maintained under compression between adjacent wooden slats to prevent free movement of the metal slat, the said flanges being sufliciently resilient to maintain contact with the wooden slats during expansion and contraction of the wooden slats.

8. A polygonal bottle crate comprising, alternate wooden and metal slats substantially horizontally disposed and forming selected walls of the crate, each of said metal slats being formed with a main panel and resilient flanges extending along the longitudinal edges of said panel in engagement with the adjacent edges of the wooden slats, and means securing the slats of said walls together at the corners of the crate, said means including a vertically disposed tie rod secured to adjacent ends of said Wooden slats and passing through adjacent ends of the iianges of said metal slats. y

9. A polygonal bottle crate comprising, alternate wooden and metal slats substantially horizontally disposed and forming selected walls of the crate, adjacent ends of said wooden slats overlapping at the corners of the crate, each of said metal slats being formed with a main'panel and resilient iianges extending along the ylongitudinal edges of said panel in engagement with the adjacent edges of thek wooden slats, and means securing the slats of said walls together at the corners of the crate, said means including a vertically disposed tie rod passing through the overlapped ends of the wooden slats and through the flanges of the metal slats.

FRED H. MAI-ILER.v 

